“If I remember correctly, that’s some sort of school,” Geth said.
“A school?” the young man scoffed. “Gapmouth is the most prestigious institution in America and ranks as one of the highest institutes of learning in the world.”
“But it’s a school, right?” Geth asked.
The boy’s jaw dropped. He looked more horrified than when Clover had first appeared.
“My family values education,” the boy said.
“That’s fantastic,” Geth cheered. “Because you’re about to get a whole bunch of it.”
The boy put his head in his hands and began to sob.
“Listen,” Geth said softly, “do you have a name?”
The boy lifted his head. “Kevin.”
“Well, Kevin,” Geth continued, “I am so sorry about the feelings of fear and confusion you must be feeling at the moment, but take heart, fate holds you.”
Kevin moaned louder. “This isn’t happening.”
“Maybe it would be best if you just waited here,” Geth said. “The Stone Holders will be along and they’ll take care of you.” Geth patted Kevin on the shoulder.
“I don’t want to be here,” Kevin said, breathing hard.
“Well, what we want is often buried in what we fear,” Geth lectured.
“I promise you my father will be suing someone over all of this!” Kevin cried.
“I’m sure he will,” Geth said patronizingly.
“He’s one of most powerful lawyers in New York,” Kevin argued. “I need to make a call.”
“There are no phones here,” Geth informed him.
Kevin was patting himself down frantically. “Where’s my cell phone?”
“People are brought here with nothing but the clothes they are wearing,” Geth said. “I guess fate’s big on modesty.”
“This can’t be happening,” Kevin yelled.
“Clover!” Geth called again.
Clover appeared on Kevin’s right shoulder and began patting the frightened boy on the head. “There, there, things are going to be . . . well, you might make it through the night.”
Kevin cried like a much younger person than he said he was, and Geth reached out his hand. Kevin didn’t take it, but he followed as Geth walked. Clover sat on Geth’s shoulder, holding two glowing stones in his palms.
“I told you the stones would make it easier to walk,” Clover lectured Geth. “We might not have even hit that kid had you taken that stone from Galbraith. You really should think about not always being so stubborn.”
The Ezra in Geth had a few choice things to say to Clover. Fortunately, the rest of Geth was strong enough to push that emotion down and bury it. Of course, according to King Tut and every zombie ever raised, most buried things eventually surface.
Chapter Ten
There’s a Kind of Mush
Hiking is great.” That’s what a bumper sticker I once saw on a car said. I’ve also seen a bumper sticker that said “World’s Greatest Grandma” on a vehicle being driven by a young man. Sometimes it worries me to live in a world where lies are not only spoken but pasted. Hiking can be great, but it’s not always. If your car breaks down in the Swiss Alps and you have to hike thirty miles just to deliver a briefcase that has a ticking bomb in it before both you and the briefcase stop ticking permanently, hiking can be a chore. Or if you have to hoof it fifty miles to cross the desert border between two warring countries carrying a prisoner in one arm and an open umbrella for shade in the other, hiking can chafe and burn horribly. Or if you are hiking headlong into darkness in a realm you don’t know with a whiny young man and no idea of how far you’ve come or how far you have to go, hiking can be a painful chore.
Well, Geth and Clover and Kevin were now facing that painful chore. The glowing stones had made it possible for them to move at a decent clip, but they were now tired and uneasy about the approaching dawn.
“What happens when it gets light?” Clover asked from his perch atop Geth’s head.
“We’ll be able to see better,” Geth answered.
“No,” Clover clarified, “what about those tree guys?”
“Tree guys?” Kevin asked.
“The people here get brainwashed by this guy named Payt,” Clover said as if reading off the stats from the back of a baseball card. “Then they turn into some sort of bark-covered, tree-hugging slaves called boors. Then they stand behind the trees and try to catch everyone else so Payt can brainwash them too.”
“That’s stupid,” Kevin said.
“I agree,” Clover said. “If I was going to brainwash people, I’d have them do things like weed my yard or make me big vats of pudding.”
“That’s stupid too,” Kevin argued.
“Really?” Clover argued back. “Which is it? Because they can’t both be stupid.”
“Actually, they both are,” Geth said, still holding a glowing stone in his open palm. “Can you see any other stones glowing?”
Clover and Kevin looked around. The black sky was beginning to fade. There had been no sign of any other Stone Holder for hours and the ground was rumbling fiercely.
“They all had the sense to go indoors,” Clover said.
The soil to the right of them began to bulge as hot air caused it to swell. The three stepped back and watched as a massive dirt balloon formed. It grew to the size of a hippo and then popped, sending dirt and hot air howling into the gray sky.
“I don’t like those things,” Kevin said.
“Really?” Geth asked sincerely. “I sort of wish we had those in Foo.”
Kevin looked at Geth in shock.
“I know,” Clover said, appearing on Kevin’s right shoulder. “He says stuff like that all the time.”
“This is the worst dream,” Kevin lamented.
“It’s not a dream,” Geth said.
“That’s just the kind of thing someone in my dream would say,” Kevin argued.
Another dirt pod popped in the distance.
“This dream is because of something I ate,” Kevin insisted. “My stomach’s just messing with my brain.”
“I hate that feeling,” Clover said.
The sky turned one full hue lighter.
“I can see things better,” Clover reported. “Look at those mountains over there.”
Geth and Kevin looked at where Clover was pointing. To the north and in the far distance there were towering green mountains that stretched across the entire horizon. All over the sky there were brown dirt orbs of different sizes and heights floating and casting shadows. Every few moments one would pop, releasing a noise that sounded like wheezy thunder.
“I don’t see any of those boors,” Clover reported.
“I should be waking up now,” Kevin argued. “It’s light.”
“We’d better start going faster,” Geth said, ignoring Kevin’s whining.
Geth began to run down the road, his sword swinging as he moved. Kevin tried to keep up, but Geth was too fast. The young man huffed and puffed for about a mile more and then stopped. He bent over, putting his hands to his knees and panting like a dizzy dog.
“We can’t rest yet,” Geth insisted. “There is a life at stake.”
“Yeah,” Kevin gasped. “Mine. If I run any more I’ll huck up a lung.”
“Huck is a cool word,” Clover observed.
All around them the fields were filling with swollen mounds of dirt. As the sky lightened they could see more and more of the massive earthy balloons drifting off to the east.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Geth whispered.
“That dreams can be scary?” Kevin guessed.
“Actually,” Geth said, “I was thinking if we could get on top of one of those floating pods we could drift a good way toward Finis.
”
“What?” Kevin asked in shock. “That’s impossible.”
“We could float right over the heads of any who might harm us,” Geth added.
“Aren’t you more frightened of falling off of one of those than of some moving tree people?” Kevin asked. “Besides, those things probably can’t hold our weight.”
“Let’s find out,” Geth said excitedly.
Geth stepped off the dirt road and headed into the middle of a large dirt field crammed with swelling mounds of earth.
“Over there!” Geth hollered, pointing.
Geth ran toward a mound the size of a small submarine and climbed up on top of it as it grew even larger. He twisted around and helped Kevin up. The two of them sat on the crest of the rapidly swelling mound. The soil beneath them was taut but spongy. Clover appeared next to Geth, balancing on the mound as if he were riding a surfboard.
“This might work,” Clover said happily.
“This won’t work,” Kevin insisted.
Geth and Clover looked at him as if he had said something thoughtless.
“But what do I care,” Kevin added. “It’s just a dream.”
“That’s the spirit,” Clover cheered.
The ground beneath them continued to rise as all around them massive bubbles of dirt were breaking free from the field and floating up into the air.
“Look,” Clover yelled. “Here come those boors.”
To the north behind the fields was a large forest. As the sky became transparent, the boors holding to the trees released their grips and began to charge toward them.
“This better work,” Clover yelled over the sound of hissing and stretching earth.
The bubble they were on was now the size of a small house. Every foot it grew gave them a better view of the hundreds of boors flooding across the fields.
“What if this bubble bursts?” Kevin screamed.
“Then we’ll go to Plan B,” Geth hollered.
“What’s Plan B?” Clover yelled.
Geth looked at Clover and shrugged. “I guess we’ll find out if we get to that point.”
Boors spilled into the field. The barky beings twisted through the bubbling dirt toward Geth, Clover, and Kevin.
“Get down on your stomach and hold on!” Geth ordered. “When this thing lifts off it could be unsteady.”
Kevin flipped over onto his stomach and grabbed at the dirt with his hands while trying to position his feet.
“Here they come!” Clover yelled, pointing to a wave of boors twenty feet away. “Do you think they’ll climb up?”
“I hope—”
Ploop.
The earthy polyp they were clinging to broke free from the spongy soil. It drifted slowly up into the air as hundreds of barky arms reached up trying to grab it. The bubble listed slightly to the right. Geth moved a couple of feet to the left to steady their ride.
“Is it working?” Clover asked in disbelief.
“Of course,” Geth replied.
“This is the scariest dream I’ve ever had,” Kevin yelled, too frightened to move anything other than his mouth.
The sky around them was filled with dozens of other floating spheres. Most were just over their heads, but some were in the process of rising past them.
“I don’t think we’ll get much higher,” Geth yelled. “We’re too heavy.”
“I don’t want to get any higher,” Kevin insisted.
“I do,” Clover yelled. “It bugs me to see those other bubbles doing better than us.”
Birds darted out and around the large bubbles as they drifted.
“What now?” Kevin asked.
“We follow the wind,” Geth replied, still clinging tightly to the earthy balloon. “It’s heading east.”
“But how will we get down?” Kevin panicked.
“I’m not sure,” Geth admitted.
Kevin moaned.
“He’s like that,” Clover yelled, holding onto the back of Geth’s shoulders. “Lithens never really think things through.”
A large bubble above them burst, sending dry wads of dirt raining down.
“This thing won’t stay up forever,” Kevin cried.
“We don’t need forever,” Geth insisted.
Clover crawled down Geth’s right leg and peered out over the round edge of the bubble. Down below there were now fields of crops and there was no sign of any boors.
“We’re moving really fast,” Kevin complained.
“I know,” Geth said happily. “This is way better than running.”
“Please wake up, please wake up,” Kevin pleaded with himself.
Clover crawled back up Geth’s leg and hopped over onto the back of Kevin’s head. He stood up tall and looked in the direction they were heading.
“Can you see anything?” Geth yelled.
“Yes,” Clover replied. “There’s a lot of floating dirt bubbles, and a whole bunch of birds.”
As Clover said it, hundreds of screeching and flapping birds filled the air. Like a dark, flaky cloud the birds overshadowed them. Some began to peck and tear at the soil pod, searching for food.
“Shoo,” Clover shooed. “Get out of here!”
Three black birds landed on Kevin’s back and picked at his blond hair and clothes.
“Get off!” Kevin begged while hanging on for dear life. “I can’t believe I got on this thing!”
A bubble the size of a grown whale exploded just to the left of them. Dirt pelted Geth and Kevin as the crows scattered momentarily. Two seconds later the birds were back and pecking.
“They’re going to pop our ride,” Clover yelled.
All around them massive dirt bubbles were popping and tearing and flinging dirt through the air like crusty fireworks.
“We’re going to die!” Kevin screamed.
The wind picked up and they began to move even faster. A large crow darted through the air and slammed into an adjacent bubble with its beak. That bubble blew, shooting the crow backwards, smacking him up against Kevin’s head and scratching his cheek. Blood began to spill from the wound.
“Just hang on,” Geth ordered.
“I’m going to wake up really angry,” Kevin protested.
A large crow swooped down and attempted to grab Clover with its talons. Clover dodged the flying menace and disappeared.
The bubble they were on began to shift from all the struggling and nervous movement of Kevin. Geth tried to steady it by crawling more to the top, but it was no use. With the sphere off balance, the craft twisted and spun upside down.
“I can’t hold on!” Kevin yelled.
“You’ve got to,” Geth hollered back.
The two of them clung to the bottom of the soil balloon, their legs kicking like they were pedaling invisible unicycles. Clover appeared, hanging off Geth’s left side, but disappeared again as hundreds of birds dived in and attacked the balloon. Geth’s and Kevin’s hands held tightly to the rubbery dirt bottom of the bubble. Kevin looked down and saw fields of purple crops speeding by.
“We’re going to die!” Kevin screamed.
“You already said that,” Clover screamed back.
A large bird dug its talons into their bubble and thrust its head forward. Its sharp black beak jammed into the dirt and ripped a small hole in the orb. Hot air rushed from the tear and the balloon began to fall rapidly to the ground.
“We’re going to die!” Clover screamed.
“That’s what I’ve been saying!” Kevin yelled.
The tear increased and the balloon dropped even faster. The crops below rushed up to them. Geth’s feet skimmed along the top of some tall-growing purple crops as the soil ball continued to fly forward and drop down.
“Try to rela
x,” Geth yelled.
“What?” Kevin yelled back.
“You’ll break fewer bones if your body’s relaxed,” Geth hollered.
Hundreds of crows tore at the dying bubble, and with one last, lazy pop the deflating dirt pod burst, sending Geth and Kevin and Clover flying into the purple stalks and onto the ground below.
Chapter Eleven
One for Them
I hate to mention it, but bad things happen to people occasionally—awful things that cause people to end up lonely or hurt or sad—or sometimes even dead. Maybe something awful has happened to you. I’m sorry about that, and if we were having an actual conversation I might even convince you of my empathy. I’d like to imagine a world where there is nothing but happiness and purring, but I’m not sure there’d be much to cheer about if every day were nothing but sunshine and success. I suppose you can never know the good if you’ve never been visited by the bad.
Geth knew bad—he was also fairly well acquainted with sad, and he had been visited personally by awful. His father had died when he was young and his mother had died shortly before his brother, Zale, did. Their deaths left him with only a sister who lived on the far up edge of Foo. Geth knew loss, and pain, and sorrow, but the signs of such familiarity never showed on his lithen face. His blue eyes always seemed on and the smile he wore in the face of danger was not terribly different from the grin he gave while experiencing joy. He was a lithen with great hope and great belief in the magic of the moment.
But as he lay there unconscious between the tall stalks of purple crops, his muscles and mind begged him to please take some time and wallow in pity for a while so that they could rest up. Clover, however, wasn’t privy to the desires of Geth’s mind.
“Wake up,” Clover whispered, standing to the side of Geth’s head as he lay against the dirt. “You gotta get up. I don’t know where that kid with the tie is, and there could be more of those boors!”
Geth lay there lifeless.
“Oh, look, there’s Phoebe,” Clover lied, hoping to shock Geth back into consciousness. “And she wants to kiss you.”